Apologies to George Sauer, but I can not let this pass without comment.

Just about the entire team resented Namath. But it was because he got away with murder off the field AND constantly gave away games "on the field" by through poor decisions and taking unnecessary risks. Thank God Maynard was injured for SB III. Who knows what Namath would have done if he had a downfield target. That Jet team was loaded with talent and could have won more than 1 SB if Namath had matured earlier and played for his team and not for himself. And I bet if you asked Namath today, he would agree. And I'm not knocking Namath's talent. He was likely the greatest passer the game has ever seen and was as tough as they come.

BTW, every team has a different standard for stars. Anyone other than a franchise QB would have been cut if he behaved like Big Ben. And Bill Parcells cut a guy for sleeping at a meeting. When asked what he would have done if it was LT, he said "I'd wake him up." Namath was only resented because his teammates did not feel he had "earned" the star treatment by delivering wins. Heck, his teammates had to be "ordered" to vote him captain.

Disagree somewhat. The short passing game was not really part of the offensive scheme back in the day. Down the field is where they went with the ball. Also, it was Weeb being very frugal and he didn't want to pay some people. He let Verlon Biggs walk over peanuts.

Not all hippies had long hair and Riggens wasn't a QB and he did what he wanted also.. BTW Werblin was gone from the Jets prior to the 1968 season so don't blame him it was all on Weeb.. Here's a pic of Riggens early 70's..

Not all hippies had long hair and not all free spirits were hippies. Yes, Werblin was gone but the precedent was set and Weeb could not all of a sudden treat Namath differently because Sonny was no longer there. Namath had a lot of clout. Remember his retirement over Bachelor's III? Riggins was a just a flake and a hillbilly. His mohawk was certainly not hippy inspired. Maybe if Riggins wasn't such a flake and was more committed to football the Jets would have been willing to pay him instead of letting him walk.

Originally Posted by SONNY WERBLIN

Apologies to George Sauer, but I can not let this pass without comment.

Just about the entire team resented Namath. But it was because he got away with murder off the field AND constantly gave away games "on the field" by through poor decisions and taking unnecessary risks. Thank God Maynard was injured for SB III. Who knows what Namath would have done if he had a downfield target. That Jet team was loaded with talent and could have won more than 1 SB if Namath had matured earlier and played for his team and not for himself. And I bet if you asked Namath today, he would agree. And I'm not knocking Namath's talent. He was likely the greatest passer the game has ever seen and was as tough as they come.

BTW, every team has a different standard for stars. Anyone other than a franchise QB would have been cut if he behaved like Big Ben. And Bill Parcells cut a guy for sleeping at a meeting. When asked what he would have done if it was LT, he said "I'd wake him up." Namath was only resented because his teammates did not feel he had "earned" the star treatment by delivering wins. Heck, his teammates had to be "ordered" to vote him captain.

Everything you say here is absolutely true. The only qualifier I would add is that it's a matter of degree. All superstars are given leeway by their teams. With Namath however, it was so blatant and so out of line that it became an issue. As Savage pointed out, one of the key moments in their Super Bowl team was Philbin ripping into Namath on a flight home from Buffalo after a terrible loss. Namath himself said that had a chilling affect on him and make him change his ways - somewhat.

Originally Posted by Supeli Malamala

Disagree somewhat. The short passing game was not really part of the offensive scheme back in the day. Down the field is where they went with the ball. Also, it was Weeb being very frugal and he didn't want to pay some people. He let Verlon Biggs walk over peanuts.

True there was no West Coast offense, and in the AFL there was much more down the field throwing but short passes were still part of the scheme. Billie Mathis and Pete Lammons made a living on those passes. Sauer himself did not really go downfield that much. In the Super Bowl he did cause Maynard was hurt, and Sauer just could do whatever he wanted with Lenny Lyles.

Weeb was not the owner. He was just the GM/Coach. Yes, he was cheap but he had to stay within the budget given him by ownership. The Jets with it's poor lease at Shea did not make a lot of money and in general the ownership was involved with their primary businesses and let Weeb run the operation.

That team had so much talent that Sauer is hardly ever mentioned. His SB III performance stood out. Sauer was a Pro. I never liked the fact that he left the Jets so early.

I don't like the fact that he left us now so early.

In no way whatsoever am I critiquing what you said above nor am I judging you, I just wanted to add that one of the things that changed the way I viewed sports, the athletes, and the decision they make was playing in HS and college and meeting player after player (especially in college) who either were fed up with the game and everything it had to offer, and only came back to it for the degree it was paying for. Football's a BRUTAL sport (as we all know), and I'll argue it's the hardest to get out of bed for once you've lost that "jones" for it (especially mentally) due to the toll it takes on the body and in all honesty the military style regimentation, especially imposed by coaches who are only looking to keep those contracts coming and may not have the players' best interest in mind. We all play and love the sport for a myriad reasons and needs, and I've learned that every player's timetable to fulfill those needs varies as wide as human genetics itself. One thing that doesn't surprise me though is the combination of him having a freestyle artistic brain in conjunction with him retiring from the game early in his career. I've seen players like that choose to hang it up prematurely way more than an unhappy meathead would.

I saw Sauer play,shows u how old I am.but don't remember much...grew to love him watching all those Jet highlights from the Super Bowl years.remember my dad saying he retired early because the game got too violent.RIP George,thanks for the great memories of our glorious Jet run.

Rest in peace, George. Gone way too soon. If you guys want to read an excellent book about Namath and the Jets during those great years, read Joe Namath, Game by Game, by Bryan L. Yeatter. It chronicles every game of Joe's professional career. Must read for all of us on this site. Won't be disappointed, I promise.

Jimmy Orr is WIDE OPEN but Earl can not see him due to the sun directly in his face, as well as the Baltimore Colts marching band sitting in the endzone he was throwong to.

7-7 at halftime may have changed the game.

Its really cool to see the sun shine as Baltimore breaks the huddle and then.......the rest is history

Weeb Ewbank always maintained that if Morrall would have decided to go to Orr that although Orr was open when he was waving, that if Morrall decided to throw to him Bill Baird would have gotten there in time to break it up.